Three months after the MV Barima ferry capsized off Guyana's Essequibo Coast, the wreck still lies on the ocean floor and the presidential Commission of Inquiry (COI) is exposing deep failures in the systems that were meant to prevent the disaster and respond to it, News Americas Now reported on October 21. The state-owned ferry, built in 1939, sank on the night of July 18, 2026 while travelling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma with 179 passengers and crew aboard. Guyanese media reported 73 people died, 76 survived and about 30 remain unaccounted for.

Testifying on Tuesday, Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard commander David Shamsudeen first told the commission that digital recordings of communications from the night of the sinking had been handed to defence headquarters, then reversed himself minutes later under questioning by commission chairman Justice Godfrey Smith, admitting no recordings were actually made. "With regards to any recordings, there are no recordings that I know… We are not mandated to do any recordings as well as digital tracks," Shamsudeen said, according to Demerara Waves reporting carried by News Americas Now. HGP Nightly News reported the commission also heard the Coast Guard formally located the wreck more than 39 hours after the first distress coordinates were logged at 10:51 p.m. on July 18; Guyana's Department of Public Information (DPI) reported Shamsudeen's testimony that charts, tides and local knowledge guided the search strategy.

Source: News Americas Now via Barbados Gazette

Maritime Administration (MARAD) officials were also pressed. Chief engineer Christopher Clarke, a 20-year MARAD veteran, testified the agency does not license its engineers and merely promotes them by internal letter after training, and confirmed there is no planned maintenance system for MARAD vessels and no safety drills aboard them, News Americas Now reported. Coast Guard petty officer Jerome Agard told the commission at least 31 people pulled from the water were not wearing life jackets and no log was kept of survivors' names, numbers or rescue coordinates.

The salvage contract — "Salvaging of Wreck MV Barima (Off Devonshire Castle Flats Essequibo Coast)" — was awarded on October 7 to BK International Inc. on a "no cure, no pay" basis for G$1.034 billion (yaani about G$103 crore), beating bids from KMS B.V./Koole Contractors and Industrial Fabrication Inc., according to the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board listing reported by News Americas Now and News Room Guyana. The tender requires a non-destructive lift so investigators can inspect the vessel intact. COI commissioner Dr Andrzej Jasionowski said recovery could take "maybe another week, another two weeks or so," but no firm date has been set.

In the courts, Suddie Magistrate Ravindra Mohabir ruled on Monday, October 19 that the murder case against captain Kevin Price, 40, chief mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, and Transport and Harbours Department goods superintendent Delon Granderson, 33, will proceed, rejecting a defence argument that the parallel inquiry made the criminal case an abuse of process, the Guyana Inquirer and SNN reported. The three were charged on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions and have been remanded; the charges are allegations and none of the men has been convicted. Paper committal proceedings begin November 16, with a decision expected December 14 on whether they will stand trial before a High Court judge and jury. Sources: News Americas Now (Oct 21, 2026); Guyana Department of Public Information; Guyana Inquirer (Oct 19, 2026); SNN Guyana.